I really like Admiral Quality's NaiveLPF VST, but I hate relying on my computer to use it... There's got to be a better way!
These two tracks are heavy on the NaiveLPF, and feature exactly the sort of puke-y, wet, drippy, boiling oil filter effects I'm looking for in a hardware unit:https://fgfy.bandcamp.com/album/deep-fryer-on-fire (Skip around, there's lots of subtle variations to the effect throughout)https://fgfy.bandcamp.com/track/the-oth ... wn-forever (that clicking is annoying as fuck, just ignore it. There's some good examples of the sort of watery effects I'm after, though. Especially between 5:25 - 5:30.)

As for recommendations: Analog, digital, whatever. Any price range is acceptable. I'm casting a wide net because I know nothing about hardware filter units, aside from the Sherman Filterbank. Just no Eurorack modules (I'm not set up for that) or annoying stompboxes that have to be interfaced with computers or mobile devices to load programs, unless they're really good.

Get an old crossover unit, it all you want is LPF, listening to the tracks not really understanding if you want it to make the bleepy bloopy or just stop the harshness poking you in the eyeballs. An old crossover will let you split from around a few hundred hertz down, just take it out the low input, they are reasonably cheap, if you don't mind waiting for one.

I tend to listen to a lot of stuff thru a crossover, with just the low amp on, it all sounds better that way

I think trying to quantify music is one of the biggest wastes of time in the world, like discussing your favourite colour or deity or pizza topping. People should realise that and get on with their life.

listening to the tracks not really understanding if you want it to make the bleepy bloopy or just stop the harshness poking you in the eyeballs.

Sorry it wasn't clear. That first track is, I'd guess, about a 50/50 mix between the wet (bleepy bloopy) filter mix and dry (stabby stabby) noise it is effecting. I am interested in hardware effects that can do the former.

One thing that's really neat about the VST is that its envelope is very responsive to incoming audio. Depending on the attack and release settings, it can get very jittery, which in turn produces a lot of nervous, chaotic "movement" in the effected signal, hence the bleepy, dripping/bubbling textures.

I guess you'll want something with an envelope? Would you prefer a pedal or a rack (NaiveLPF style, not Euro/Doepfer style)?

Pedals, maybe a Q-Tron or an Ashdown would get you there? For outboard style gear, I've heard great things about the Electrix Filter Factory. They can all be gotten for quite cheap.

Again, sorry for not specifying. But, yes, whatever the unit, it should either be an envelope filter, or something with an env. filter mode. No preference whatsoever in terms of pedals, 19" racks, half racks, tabletop units, etc. Hell, I might even consider Eurorack recommendations, though I don't have any intentions of jumping down the modular rabbit hole right now. If I saw the right unit, I might at least build or buy some 19"-to-eurorack mount adapters (they must exist already, right?) and stick a modular filter into my 19" rack that way.

At any rate, the Electrix FF sounds really promising. I haven't heard a lot of samples yet, and I am not sure how responsive (read: spastic) the envelope gets, but it sounds cool, and it definitely seems to be in the ballpark of what I am after. I also kinda want a Mo-Fx now too.

I'm listening to Q-Tron+ demos at the moment, and it seems to have a fair amount of potential as well, but I only have bass/guitar demos and (so far) relatively conservative demonstrations at that. If nothing else, I think it'd be a nice step up from my FX25B.

I haven't had a lot of useful results just yet looking for Ashdown demos, but I think it's pretty neat just because of the VU meter. I'm seeing a lot of recommended videos (Moogerfooger, duh! I hadn't even thought of that. Will check that out soon). Watching a demo of a Sounblox envelope filter now (it's taken me 30 minutes just to type this post). Sounds promising. Definitely has the "drippy, wet" thing down, though I'm not sure how chaotic the envelope can get. Sounds quite smooth from what I've heard so far. Too smooth. Probably has as much to do with the input source as anything, though.

Thanks for the suggestions, y'all. I'm sure I can buy it all on my awesome retail salary.

For easy reference, here's what's been recommended so far, as well as what I've been checking out from Youtube's suggested videos:
Moogerfooger whatever-it's-called
Vermona something-or-other (sounds nice, but not what I am looking for)
Soundblox Envelope Filter
EH Q-Tron/Q-Tron+
Ashdown Envelope Filter
Crossdresser thingy

If you shop around you can get a Nord MicroModular on ebay or whatever for the price of some boutique pedal, read this http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~clark/nordmod ... k_toc.html and then build all the crazy envelope filters you could possibly imagine, with 2 inputs + outputs!!

Hey,
Some good suggestions above.
Not sure the pedals would get you there... maybe the moog.
Maybe look out for an old Alesis Airfx. Its stereo so messing with different sources for the inputs might be fun on some of the filter settings.
Think there is some kind of blipy watery setting. Need to dig mine out and try. Its worth getting the "for spares or repair" sales, as the board that usually goes is the control one under the dome which can be scrounged from the crappy and cheap Alesis Photon x25 keyboard...

The Nord is an intriguing suggestion, but it's likely too much for my pea brain and pea-sized patience. Truth is, I mainly just want a box full of knobs that I can plug in and go, without having to spend a lot of time figuring out how to program things. The Nord seems to be very open-ended (how awful!) for wanting only one thing out of it. Maybe I'll get excited about it if I take the time to really research it. I'm mainly looking for instant gratification here, though. Had I money to burn, I would like to buy one just to experiment with the overall possibilities.

Although I think for really liquid sounding effect you want filter with some kind of active envelope that can be driven either by the amplitude of the input or a separate input.

I have the DOD FX25B, and I consider it a good pedal, but it's definitely limited, and it doesn't really get the sort of effects I am after. I've gotten some really interesting synthy textures and pulsing/percussive sounds out of it in the right setups, but not quite what I am going for here.

A lot of the suggested units sound really good, but commonly distinguish themselves with "phat" bass pulses, laser pew-pew'ing and squelchy resonant tones more than the gurgling/dripping sounds I want. I suspect a lot of them could achieve the sounds I am looking for, and that a lot of what I am hearing (or not hearing) may simply be down to demos using the effects for traditional bass, synthesizer and electronic dance music effects, and not hearing them used in typical noise contexts.

I have wanted a Filter Bank for a while now, even if it cannot quite get what I want (I could not say from memory, as it's been a while since I've tortured myself with a lot of expensive gear demos). I need to check out more MF-101 demos. The ones I've listened to so far also fell short, with people choosing to use the effects very conservatively for "classic" effects, instead of weird ones.

The AirFX isn't something I'd turn my nose up at for general use, but it's not what I am looking for right now either. The examples of its filter effects that I've heard don't seem to hit the mark. Also, the infrared control interface seems a bit stilted when I watch people playing it in videos.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I am not going to drag people along any further in this. I just need to take the suggestions given and see where the tubes take me from there.

Honestly, I might just have to bite the bullet and save up for a filterbank. It is perhaps the closest so far to what I want in terms of sound and interface, based on the video I just watched.

The filterbank is pretty versatile but I will say that it is not a plug and play sorta device.. it may take a awhile to get used to it and it's not easy to switch between settings as it doesn't have presets because it's all analogue. Supposedly you can to some degree through midi programming achieve this but you still have to fine tune the positions of the knobs and in many cases small adjustments make a world of difference for some of the controls.

The Filterbank one can be gotten for less than the 2 sometimes and is only missing a few features. Supposedly the 1 is more noisey which is obviously not necessarily a bad thing.

The Electrix FIlter Factory cost like a third of what the Sherman goes for and might get you there.. it has an amplitude follower and decent range of controls without being to complicated. I haven't done a full comparison of it to the Sherman but it's probably closer than the MFC to what you are looking for.

The filterbank is pretty versatile but I will say that it is not a plug and play sorta device.. it may take a awhile to get used to it and it's not easy to switch between settings as it doesn't have presets because it's all analogue. Supposedly you can to some degree through midi programming achieve this but you still have to fine tune the positions of the knobs and in many cases small adjustments make a world of difference for some of the controls.

The Filterbank one can be gotten for less than the 2 sometimes and is only missing a few features. Supposedly the 1 is more noisey which is obviously not necessarily a bad thing.

The Electrix FIlter Factory cost like a third of what the Sherman goes for and might get you there.. it has an amplitude follower and decent range of controls without being to complicated. I haven't done a full comparison of it to the Sherman but it's probably closer than the MFC to what you are looking for.

I think I will settle on either the Iron Ether pedal or Electrix Filter Factory in the short term, then, though I've got Filterbank on the brain now. It just looks like a lot of fun to fiddle with aimlessly. It's definitely a lot of money to spend just for mindless knob-twiddling, though.